Boost for wind technology development

Oceanfoil and Owen Clarke Design will cooperate on a working prototype of an improved wingsail design, for sea trials on an actual ship in the second half of 2014. UCL-Energy will work with Oceanfoil to develop analysis capability to maximise the performance of Oceanfoil’s technology on representative shipping routes. This analysis is expected to enable potential savings for any application to be predicted.

According to Oceanfoil, the improved design has the potential to offer a 20% saving in fuel consumption, and the company regards the ability to use the wind as an additional power source is now verging on necessity.

Charles Moray, managing director, Oceanfoil, said: “We are very pleased to have partnered with two leading institutions in the maritime field. With the cost of fuel for ocean-going vessels at a sustained high level, our wingsail designs are ideally placed to capture a proportion of an industry craving fuel, emissions and cost savings amid increasing fuel costs and regulation.”

He continued: “We understand that the industry has been bombarded with claims of huge fuel savings, and therefore we know we must stringently measure, report and verify the savings we produce.”